The Delhi High Court has restrained the unauthorised streaming and broadcasting of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup following a plea by its official broadcaster expressing strong apprehension over illegal dissemination of major sporting events in the past.
Justice Sanjeev Naurla passed the interim order in response to a lawsuit by Star India against various rogue websites anticipated to engage in unauthorised dissemination of cricket matches on their platforms, as per reports.
Star India stated that it held the media rights for a range of sporting events, encompassing both domestic and international cricket matches organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
It was argued that due to previous cases of illegal broadcasting of major sporting events, there is significant concern that specific online platforms might engage in unauthorised streaming of the T20 World Cup, being held from June 2 to June 24 in West Indies and the US, according to reports.
The court acknowledged the widespread popularity and importance of ICC events, especially in the Indian subcontinent. It noted that unauthorised broadcasting of these events poses a substantial threat to the plaintiff’s revenue streams. The plaintiff owns multiple channels and the online video-streaming platform Hotstar.
As per reports, the court stated in a recent order, “Therefore, swift action to prevent such infringements is crucial to preserving the plaintiff’s investment in the broadcasting rights and maintaining their copyright protection.”
“Defendants No. 1 to 9, and/or any person acting on their behalf, are restrained from communicating, hosting, streaming, screening, disseminating or making available for viewing/ downloading, without authorisation, any part of the ICC events, specifically the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, on any electronic or digital platform in any manner whatsoever,” the court ordered.
The court mentioned that in case any further infringing websites are found, the plaintiff is authorised to inform the telecom department and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for issuance of blocking orders.
The court also directed Internet Service Providers and Telecom Service Providers to block access to these such websites.
